Subcaliber howitzer trainer



May 7, 1963 E H. AMlSTADl SUBCALIBER HOWITZER TRAINER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 26, 1960 May 7, 1963 E H. AMISTADI SUBCALIBER HOWITZER .TRAINER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 26, 1960 May 7, 1963 E H. AMlSTADl 3,088,225

SUBCALIBER HOWITZER TRAINER Filed May 26, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Z. fife/w) 14/17/974 fwd} 6M May 7, 1963 H. AMISTADI SUBCALIBER HOWITZER TRAINER Filed May 26, 1960 U; IllIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll AIR PRESSURE-ES. 1.

AIR. PRESSURE VERSUS RANGE.

DEVI CE INSTALLED ELEVATI 0 OF MOUIVT- 320 MILS.

[55' MM HOW! 7252 IN SAME MAI/HEB RS 37 MM MOUIV 11 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 CHARGE NUMBER so 5O 6O 7O RANGE llIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllJ INMENTOR. E HENRY flM/STAD/ gm 1 3 m ATTORNEYS States at The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

The present invention relates to an artillery trainer and is particularly concerned with such trainers that eliminate the need for expenditure of live ammunition.

In the prior art the training of men in the use of artillery pieces has usually been accomplished by either having them use live and blank ammunition in the weapons in which they are to be trained or to provide them with a simulated weapon for training purposes. The first of these methods requires either the expenditure of large amounts of expensive ammunition while subjecting the untrained men'to a certain amount of danger in handling equipment which they are unaccustomed to operating or if blank ammunition is used, fails to provide experience in ranging and fire control. The second method fails to accomplish one of the purposes of training; that is, to acquaint the trainee with new weapons which he is to use. The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art devices by combining features found in both the categories of prior art devices described above. By mounting a simulated weapon, as will be described hereafter, upon the weapon with which the trainees will eventually use the trainees obtain experience in all phases of the weapons operation while not being subjected to dangers associated with inexperience.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to permit trainees to become acquainted with the weapon which they will ultimately use while not requiring the expenditure of live ammunition.

Another object of the invention is to provide an artillery training device that may be more easily loaded than such prior art devices.

It is another object of the invention to provide a safer method for training men in the use of artillery.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of the device shown mounted on a typical artillery piece;

FIG. 2 is a section taken axially through the device with breech in unlocked position;

FIG. 3 is a view taken substantially along line 3-3 in FIG. 2 and shows a section through the firing chamber;

FIG. 4 is a view taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 and is an elevation looking into the barrel;

FIG. 5 is a view taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 and is an elevation looking into the firing chamber;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the projectile; and

FIG. 7 is a chart showing the range of the projectile for corresponding air pressure setting.

Referring to the figures it is seen that the subcaliber artillery trainer 10 is mounted axially along the barrel 11 of artillery piece 12, and that a pressure means 13 is coupled to the subcaliber trainer by the use of a lock nut 14. The subcaliber trainer is secured to the gun barrel by means of bolts 15 passing through an opening in the subcaliber mount 16 into tapped holes existing in the 3,38,ZZ5 Patented May 7., 1963 barrel with the artillery barrel is accomplished by adjustment of the collar jam nuts 22 and by tightening the trunnion jam nuts 23.

A mounting base 24 is secured to the subcaliber barrel at two points by means of flanges 2S and 26 and to the subcaliber mount 16 at one point by means of a bolt 27. The mounting base 24 rotatably supports a platform or carriage 28 by a means of a bearing shaft 29. The breech 30 mounted on a plate 31 retained by extensions 32 and 33 is free to slide on this platform or carriage. Thus, the breech may he slid away from the barrel and rotated around the shaft 29 to permit the insertion of the projectile 34.

Locking of the breech is accomplished by inserting locking protrusions 35 extending from a rotatable collar 36 contained on the breech into apertures 37 in a receptor 38 that is axially mounted around the subcaliber barrel. Once the protrusions have passed through the apertures they are within a channel 39 in which they are free to rotate. To insure a proper seal a bolt handle 40 which is screwably contained in a cylinder 41 secured to the collar is used to rotate the protrusions within the channel. The fixed sleeve housing 42 supporting the cylinder, contains an arcuate opening 43 through which the bolt extends which limits the rotation of the protrusions to 60 degrees.

The propelling force is obtained from a cylinder of compressed air 44. The pressure into the breech may be varied by pressure regulator 45. Pressure gauge 46 measures the pressure in the hose 47 connecting the regulator with the trigger assembly 48 used to release the air under pressure into the breech.

The projectile consists of tail fins 49, a plastic body 50 and a removable steel nose 51 for the insertion of blank spotting cartridges.

In operation, the trainees go through the same procedure as with an operational gun except for loading and firing of service ammunition. They estimate the range of the target, make the adjustments to the artillery piece 12 in elevation and azimuth and select the powder increment or charge number required to hit the target. The dummy cartridges or powder bags and projectiles are loaded and rammed into the breech of the gun as per instructions issued for handling drill rounds. Then using firing tables such as is shown in FIG. 7, the range estimated by the crew is divided by 100 and the air pressure in pounds per square inch that is required to shoot the desired range is determined by the use of the tables. The pressure regulator 44 is set at this determined value. The breech 30 of the subcaliber device 10 is then opened by rotating the bolt 40 in a counter clockwise direction and sliding the breech assembly away from the barrel. The platform 28 is then rotated degrees and the projectile 34 is inserted in the breech making sure the tail assembly is touching the rear of the breech. The breech platform is again rotated to realign the breech assembly with the subcaliber barrel, the bolt handle 40 is grasped, pushed forward and twisted in a clockwise direction to lock the breech 30 to the barrel 17 and the trigger 48 is depressed sending compressed air into the device, thus firing the projectile.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specific-ally described.

What is claimed is:

A pneumatic artillery trainer comprising a firearm with a barrel, a second barrel coupled to and aligned with said firearm barrel for firing a subcaliber projectile, a platform rotatably coupled to said second barrel, a breech member slidably mounted on said platform to facilitate loading of the trainer with the subcaliber projectile, rotatable locking means coupled to said breech member for locking the breech member to the barrel and variable pressure supplying means coupled to said breech member for supplying pneumatic pressure for firing the projectile.

2, An artillery training simulator adapted to be mounted on an operational artillery gun comprising, a mounting base, a subcaliber barrel secured to said base and adapted to receive a subcaliber artillery shell, said subcaliber barrel including first locking means at one end thereof, a carriage member rotatably mounted on said base, a breech member slidably retained on said carriage member and including second locking means at one end thereof, said breech member and subcaliber barrel being axially aligned with each other when in operative relation, the said first and second locking means mating to provide an airtight seal and means operative with the simulator to supply pneumatic pressure for firing the suboaliber artillery shell.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said carriage member comprises a platform, extension means on the edges of said platform, said extension means being in parallel, spaced apart relation to form a track and plate means supporting said breech member and received in said track for slidable movement therein.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein a sleeve housing is secured to said carriage member, said breech member consisting of said sleeve housing and a cylinder, said cylinder being rotatably seated in said housing and extending therethrough, and actuating means extending from said cylinder and through said arcuate opening whereby the said mating locking means may be turned with respect to each other to provide a seal.

5. The combination of claim 4 including adjustment means extending from said mount and engaging said subcaliber barrel to axially align the barrel with the breech member.

6. The combination of claim 2 wherein said carriage member contains a bearing shaft, said bearing shaft being secured to said mounting base for rotation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,017,746 Glerum Feb. 20, 1912 2,304,841 Mikkelsen Dec. 15, 1942 2,308,798 Peiker Jan. 19, 1943 2,489,748 Burney Nov. 29, 1949 2,809,624 Becher et a1. Oct. 15, 1957 2,886,025 Amistadi May 12, 1959 2,895,381 Musser July 21, 1959 

1. A PNEUMATIC ARTILLERY TRAINER COMPRISING A FIREARM WITH A BARREL, A SECOND BARREL COUPLED TO AND ALIGNED WITH SAID FIREARM BARREL FOR FIRING A SUBCALIBER PROJECTILE, A PLATFORM ROTATABLY COUPLED TO SAID SECOND BARREL, A BREECH MEMBER SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID PLATFORM TO FACILITATE LOADING OF THE TRAINER WITH THE SUBDALIBER PROJECTILE, ROTATABLE LOCKING MEANS COUPLED TO SAID BREECH MEMBER FOR LOCKING THE BREECH MEMBER TO THE BARREL AND VARIABLE PRESSURE SUPPLYING MEANS COUPLED TO SAID BREECH MEMBER FOR SUPPLYING PNEUMATIC PRESSURE FOR FIRING THE PROJECTILE. 